Episode 6: Trash Cannot Enter Through the Front Door
The next morning, in the greenhouse garden of the Duke's mansion. Inside the glass greenhouse, bathed in fresh morning sunlight, Liliana was carefully placing a red ruby ring strung on a silver chain around her neck.
As the cool touch of the gem brushed against her collar, Eleanor's words from the previous night echoed in her ears.
'Keep this ring hidden beneath your collar in front of others for now. The day you completely take control of the merchant guild's operations and root out all their illicit funds, I will proudly place it on your finger in front of the entire Imperial high society.'
It was a secret vow made with Eleanor, her mother-in-law and liege. Liliana gently clutched the ring hidden against her chest through her clothes, her eyes shining. The young lady of a fallen noble family, who had trembled and watched nervously just yesterday, was nowhere to be seen. Liliana, standing tall in the luxurious dark green morning dress bestowed by Eleanor, began to exude a dignity befitting a woman of Castillo.
"Madam, I have moved three years' worth of accounting ledgers of the merchant guilds on Capital Avenue 1 to my room, just as you instructed."
Eleanor, who had been elegantly tilting her teacup across from the tea table, smiled with satisfaction.
"Good job. Don't push yourself to stay up all night; take your time and craft the noose to tighten the noose around those bastards' throats."
It was just as a peaceful and warm morning tea time was continuing between the two.
Crash! Bang!!
From outside the greenhouse, near the mansion's main gate, the loud sound of a carriage and boisterous shouting rang out.
"Get out of the way! Do you know who I am to block my path? Open the door immediately!"
It was the voice of an irritable young man. At that familiar yet repulsive tone, Eleanor furrowed her brow slightly. The sound of the teacup being set down rang out particularly sharply. Liliana, too, instantly recognized the owner of the voice and flinched. It was her fiancé, Claude, the Young Duke of Castillo.
"M-Madam. It seems His Excellency the Young Duke has arrived. However..."
Hans, the head butler who had rushed into the greenhouse, had a face contorted with bewilderment.
"His Excellency... is not alone. He has burst through the front gate accompanied by the young lady of the Baroness Vivian."
"Hoho."
A cold, bitter laugh escaped Eleanor's red lips. He was the fellow who had crawled across the floor to escape yesterday with his father, who had wet his pants under the pressure of Mana in the office. It seemed he had already forgotten that terror after just one night's sleep. Or perhaps he had been making the shallow, foolish calculation that, 'Surely, Mother wouldn't try to crush me in front of other nobles when she has the family's honor?'
"A beating is the only cure for a fearless bastard. Let's go, Liliana. We must go get rid of this stray cat that has barged into our mansion."
"Yes, Madam."
Eleanor led the way, and Liliana followed behind with unwavering steps.
***
At that very moment, in the massive central entrance hall of the Duke of Castillo's estate, Claude stood with a triumphant expression, his arms wrapped around Vivien's waist.
After suffering the humiliation yesterday when his cash flow was cut off at the Lumiere jewelry store, Claude's pride had hit rock bottom. He had gone to extreme lengths to restore his shattered dignity and show off his power to Vivien. Delusionally assuming that his father had successfully charmed his mother, he had brought his mistress to the main household just to show off, even though the arranged marriage was only a month away.
"Young Master Claude. Is it really alright for me to be here? If the Lady of the House displeases..."
Vivian clutched Claude's hem nervously and lowered her gaze, feigning a pitiful look. Her appearance was as pure as a lily of the valley, and her expression suggested tears were about to fall at any moment. However, beneath her bowed head, Vivian's eyes gleamed with vicious greed and malice.
'I've finally entered the main Castillo estate!'
Vivian swallowed hard as she scanned the multi-million dollar chandeliers and massive masterpieces adorning the entrance hall. This overwhelming wealth and power. It was far too precious a position to be occupied by someone like Liliana from the debt-ridden Count Werner family.
'I must catch the eye of that old mistress today, no matter what. To continue the family line, I will prove that I, with my popularity in society, am far more useful as a daughter-in-law than some fallen noblewoman.'
There was a limit to delusion. Just as the two foolish individuals were lost in their futile fantasies, the sound of high heels echoed down the marble staircase.
Click, click.
With a chilling current of mana, Eleanor emerged from the bottom of the stairs, clad in a deep navy blue indoor dress. Her alluring and cold beauty, which belied her age of 42, commanded the gaze. And half a step behind her, Liliana, dressed in the utmost dignity, followed like a shadow.
"Oh, Mother!"
Claude flinched, a faint memory of yesterday's terror flashing through his mind, but conscious of Vivian standing beside him, he feigned bravado and raised his voice.
"You have come down at just the right time. I brought Vivian to formally introduce her to you, Mother. And please, immediately unfreeze the merchant guild ledgers under my name! Do you know what kind of ordeal I went through outside yesterday because I couldn't even buy a gift for Vivian?!"
Beside Claude, who was boldly demanding his rights, Vivian elegantly lifted the hem of her skirt and knelt, flashing the smile rumored to be the most beautiful in high society.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Madame Eleanor. This is Vivian of the Baron's household. I have long heard of your reputation in society for your grace and benevolence, and I have always wanted to meet you..."
"Hans."
Vivian's coquettish greeting was not even finished. Eleanor, not even catching Vivian's eye, stared blankly into the void and coldly called out to the head butler
"Yes, yes, Madame."
"Since when has the security of Castillo's front gate become so lax? It is not like it is a stray cat, to think they would let a vulgar piece of trash rolling around in some back alley set foot on the front door without the mistress's permission."
The smile on Vivian's lips cracked open. Claude, too, widened his eyes, doubting his own ears.
"Oh, Mother! Trash? What do you mean? Vivian is the daughter of a Baron and my precious..."
"Precious something? A mistress with whom you share your filthy lower body?"
Eleanor's icy gaze finally fixed on Claude. Claude caught his breath at the blatant loathing and contempt contained in those eyes.
"Does your head not even hold the basic etiquette of high society? Your fiancée is staying at this mansion with her eyes wide open, yet you drag a vulgar mistress through the 'front gate' before the wedding? This goes beyond an insult to your fiancée, Liliana; it is an act of patricide that disgraces the Castillo family."
"But...! That woman Liliana is nothing but a shell sold for money anyway! Vivian is... rather than such a fallen noble..." !"
"Shut up."
With Eleanor's short shout, a faint wave of mana swept through the hall. Claude bit his lip and recoiled. Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, a flustered Vivian hurriedly approached Eleanor's skirt, tears welling up in her eyes. It was the 'pitiful and docile child' cosplay she always played with the older ladies of high society.
"M-Madam. There is a misunderstanding. I merely wanted to pay my respects to you and get along well with Lady Liliana. If my humble origins have offended you, please forgive me, sob sob."
It was the moment Vivian reached for the hem of Eleanor's dress. Cold sweat ran down Liliana's spine. However, she could not allow such a vulgar hand to touch the clothes of the liege who had rescued her from the mire. Liliana gripped the skirt tightly to stop the trembling, then roughly slapped Vivian's wrist away with a cold glare.
"Ah...!"
Vivian, struck on the back of her hand, looked up at Liliana in bewilderment. Was this really the same Liliana who, just yesterday, had been trembling in a corner wearing a tattered dress?
There was not a trace of fear or sadness in the eyes of Liliana as she looked down at her. Only the cold arrogance befitting a woman of Castillo remained. Liliana calmly warned Vivian without backing down an inch.
"How dare a mere illegitimate daughter of a Baron dare to reach the hem of the dress of the Duchess, a great noble of the Empire? Does the Mistress of Castillo look so ridiculous that she would be fooled by those fake tears you shed?"
"L-Liliana... you, what are you doing...!"
Vivian stammered in shock. Claude, too, dropped his jaw at the sudden change in attitude of Liliana, who had been like a rat. At Liliana's firm and dignified rebuke, a deep, satisfied curve formed on Eleanor's lips.
'Excellent. You pass the test as my hound.'
Lightly wrapping her arm around Liliana's shoulder, Eleanor coldly spat out a final verdict toward Vivian and Claude.
"Listen carefully. My daughter-in-law, no. The only one to become the next mistress of Castillo is this child, Liliana."
Eleanor looked down at the frozen Vivian as if she were trash and drove the nail in the coffin.
"Hans. Call the knights immediately and throw that vulgar thing outside. If you truly wish to stay at the Duke of Castillo's mansion..."
"..."
"Crawl in through the back door for servants next to the outhouse, and you must start by serving as a maid washing my daughter-in-law's feet."
"M-Madam...!"
"And Claude. You are to be confined to the annex immediately and placed under house arrest. Until your head turns cold, you are strictly forbidden from receiving a single penny in allowance or leaving the premises. Feel the bitter reality that there is absolutely nothing you can do on your own."
It was a perfect, merciless, and elegant bombardment.
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